Led by Ricardo Cordoba of GE Energy and MichèleSabban, AER President, this unique coalition of publicand private sector strives to promote the value of therole of regions and federal states and the impact theycan and will have on sustainability, securing energysupplies and respect for their environment. Together, the two entities are a perfect match thanks to GE Energy's wealth of experience and theAER's reach and relationship with its extensivenetwork of regional authorities. The development of efficient energy at regional level iscritical to ensure the benefits of operating, decidingand implementing policies that will be accrued in localeconomy; 77 per cent of the 67 regions surveyedalready employing their own environmental strategies. "Regions are perfectly placed to implement suchinitiatives; they offer unique resources that can drivethe diverse energy mix required to support low- carbonenergy. They have great experience with energyinvestments and infrastructure, they are key toplanning and consent, and they are actively engagedand exercise an increasing influence over energystrategy in their territories," says Michèle Sabban.Through the support of co-operations such as the GE-AER relationship, the triple challenges of security of supply, climate change and affordabilitycan be overcome.WORKING TOWARDS AN "EFFICIENT"FUTUREEfficiency improvements are by far the most effective,they improve competitiveness and reduce emissionsyet there are several barriers that are hamperingprogress. Notably, the investment and technology risksassociated with the supply-side mean that ofteninvestors have little visibility of future rates of return. All resources are dependent upon the availability ofpredictable and sufficiently long-term revenue streamsin order to incentivise efficiency solutions to the energy system. Approaches to energy efficiency need to be developed in a coherent and co-ordinatedway so that regions can deliver substantive, robust andcost-effective solutions along the entire length of theenergy chain.Efficient energy projects can create labour-intensivesources of employment and they promote the greeneconomy. Not only are they environmentally friendlybut, in the long run, they are economically friendly,factors which are important to a post-recession EU. n1Huberty, M., Zysman, J. (2010) Governments,Markets, and Green Growth: Energy systemstransformation for sustainable prosperity086INNOVATION TECHNOLOGY